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Topic : I Want Plastic Surgery Because...

Why are you interested in changing your appearance surgically? Let us know your story and reasons.

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Exercise

I would like to have plastic surgery due to the excess abdominal skin that I have due to a c-section (so-called bikini cut)that never would firm up. In addition to that I lost 60 pounds and have kept it off for over 10 years. I wish there was an exercise that would do it because that would be my first choice. &nbsp

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The second thing is a breast augmentation due to one breast being quite larger than the other. Thank God for padded bras. Very distressing as a teenager. You just don't feel normal. Doctors say it is very normal. Not too much discussion out there on it. Wished I knew what causes it because some of my cousins have the same problem.&nbsp

Wishlist

Dear Santa Phil,&nbsp

I know Santa knows everything, but to remind you...I lost 165 pounds 15 years ago!&nbsp

I want peace on earth, good will towards humanity, and...&nbsp

On my face and head I want a laser/acid face peel, and an endoscopic brow lift, upper eye lid lift, liposuction on my neck and jowels, and a few hairplugs. On my back I want laser hair removal. On my tummy I want a full tummy tuck, and liposuction of the love handles. On my bottom I want a lift. On my inner thighs I want liposuction and excess skin removed.&nbsp

I want plastic surgery because

I would like a little bit of plastic surgery because.....I have lost over 100 lbs. I have had gastric bypass surgery. I have a few places that need to be tucked and a couple of things lifted. Just recently I turned the big 40. It has not bothered me turning that big corner of my life. I feel wonderful and people comment on how good I look. I am proud of my decision to take control of my life and change my eating habits for the rest of my life for the better. In turn it has also affected my whole family teaching then better choices to make. I am not looking for a hand out I am actually looking for a good plastic surgeon in my area because if I make the decision to have a little bit of plastic surgery I certainly don't want it to turn into a night mare, I would rather deal with the little bit of extra skin and the saggy couple of things than to have a surgery go sour. Thanks for any information that you can forward my way it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Dr Phil for your wisdom and courage to make a difference in this world. You are an inspiration to all that take the time to listen.

SO ASHAMED

Dr. Phil,&nbsp

I am a 40 year old mother of five chidren and six grandchildren..I have no self esteem no motivation or will to go any where. I grew up being called stringheaded B from my Mom and there was alot of mental and other abuse that went on in my family. I visited my Mom Sunday, it had been about a month since I had saw her, the first thing she said to me in front of everyone there is i had gotten FAT. I cryed all the way home. I am very willing to have any plastic surgery or anything else that would help me not feel so ashamed of my self. Please help...&nbsp

I Would Like Plastic Surgery

I am a 47 year old, white female with a port wine stain hemangiona on the entire left side of my face. I was born "normal" and not until I was a couple of months old did my Mother notice what looked like a little rash developing in the center of my left cheek. She thought I was allergic to my milk. I'm not sure how long afterwards, however, the port wine stain hemangiona spread all over the left side of my face.&nbsp

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Along with the discoloration (it's a port wine stain color), the skin is also "diseased" - abnormally thick, which makes my face asymetrical. And wouldn't you know it? Just last year, I believe it was, they came out with this big study that determined the single most important factor in our definitions of "beauty" or what we consider "beautiful" in people was symmetry. I couldn't believe it when I heard, and yet I knew that it was true. I could have told them that without all the research. It's certainly the first thing I notice about a person's looks.&nbsp

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I have always wondered why women wear make-up when they don't have to conceal anything. The one thing that I regret not being able to do is be completely natural when I go out in public. By the time I was in the 6th grade, many years ago (1974), I realized that I would look more "normal" if I wore makeup to cover up my port wine stain birthmark. I have been wearing it ever since. Normal things that everyone else takes for granted are obstacles for me. I have to repair my makeup throughout the day, or the facial oils will make it come off. I can swim in my makeup, but I can't dry my face with a towel after swimming in the pool, not without rubbing off my makeup. I can't easily blow my nose in public (not that I would anyway), without worrying about messing up my makeup. It's difficult for me to hug people most of the time, because they usually pull you up close and then I'm worrying about getting makeup on their clothes. I can't go on excursions or hiking trips or camping, or anything like that without taking my makeup along. I can't sit down and put my face in the donut hole and get a massage, because my makeup would come off on the pillow. I can't just walk up to a child and start playing with it or acting like I'm going to hold it (which I wouldn't do anyway) for fear that I will scare the kid. I usually either scare a child or they think I'm a clown and they point to my nose. &nbsp

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There are many, many things that everyone else thinks nothing about that I am ever conscious of.&nbsp

Even adults are very curious about me, manytimes asking me if I was in an auto accident or a fire. For years, I wished I could say that I had been in an accident - that I was born normal, but I got unlucky and had an accident. Instead, it's as if I was born defective - freak of nature, if you will. That somehow is more pathetic. And the one thing I have always despised is the sympathy of other people. I don't want pity. I want understanding.&nbsp

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I have always considered myself the same as everyone else, regardless of how I look. As I've grown older, I see that having dealt with my birthmark through the years has had more of an effect on me than I realized it was having. I have always just dealt with the issue and gone on about my business. But I know that my having gone to college for 9 years was in part due to my reluctance to face job interviews and rejection. So I stayed in school and kept getting degrees. In 1985, I left the Ph.D. program at UT-Knoxville and went on the road traveling across the country in the photography business. And there is where I've been for the past 20 years.&nbsp

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Only twice in my life have I had any type of reconstrutive surgery. Oh, when I was a kid and they didn't really know what they were dealing with, they did try to burn the birthmark off with dry ice. It blistered the skin on the left side of my face. The hope was that when the blisters burst, the new skin would not have the birthmark. But, of course, that didn't work. It hurt like hell, but I was willing to go through it in order to look more "normal."&nbsp

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My opthamalogist of 45 years told me about a very good plastic surgeon at Duke University, Dr. Riefkohl. He thought I should make an appointment with him and see if there was anything he could do for me. I did have some major reconstructive surgery done in 1984, while I was attending UT-K. I was hospitalized for 1 week while my face and eyes healed themselves. I was pleased with the outcome, as it was definitely an improvement over the original. On a subsequent visit to Dr. Riefkohl a year or so later, he attempted some more facial surgery using only local anesthesia. That was a terrible mistake, as I could feel every move of the knife. Tears flowed down my cheeks as I tried desperately to hold still. Unfortunately, the more he cut, the more my face bled (the hemangiona is blood under the skin), and the more the local anesthesia came out, and the more I felt the cutting, and on & on. He ended the surgery in frustration and refused to do anymore with me after that. I have always said that I traumatized him. I really believe that. And I didn't mean to do it. But when I was sent to the recovery room, I could not get my breath. I was crying uncontrollably. I tried to assure my parents that I was not hurting - and I wasn't - but I just could not stop the crying. It was to the point of convulsions almost. The nurse came in and gave me calming down meds and finally I did. But that was the last time I saw Dr. Riefkohl at Duke University.&nbsp

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A couple years later, I had one last surgery in Atlanta, GA, where my nose was reconstructed by taking skin from my neck. So now I have a 10" scar on the side of my neck that has become the left side of my nose. Again, I was pleased with the results, as they were an improvement, though certainly not perfection.&nbsp

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The main problem I'm having right now is that my nose - the $5000 new part - is collapsed onto my airway passage. I have difficulty breathing through my nose because of that. I can push the end of my nose up (sort of like a pig's snout, I guess) and it completely clears my air passageway. So I feel sure there is some surgery that could be done to correct this medical problem. Of course, I would also ask the fairy God-Father Phil to find me someone who knows what they are doing with port wine stain hemangionas and who could take away this discoloration. At least then I could go outside of my house and onto the sideway without worrying about who is going to see me without my makeup on. That is sheer misery. I don't even answer the door without my makeup on, unless it's someone that I'm comfortable with seeing me. I would like to be able to go hiking and get terrribly hot, as I always do, without worrying about my makeup looking terrible and coming off - exposing the purpleish skin beneath. &nbsp

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So I would like to have some surgery to help me "approach normalization" as the Sociologist Irving Goffman wrote years ago in his phenomenal book Stigma. If anyone wants to know what its really like living with a physical stigma - abnormality - in this culture, then read this little book. It says it all.&nbsp

Breast Reduction

Dr Phil,&nbsp

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My wife who is 30 has been complaining about her neck, shoulders, and back for the past 4 years after she had our daughter. She went up two cup sizes after she had her and was looking into getting a breast reduction. However, looking at insurances today they are very particular about their policies on this making it difficult for her to get it. They are going by size, how much could be taking out of each breast, her body weight and so forth. &nbsp

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I would really like for her to be able to get this done but for now we'll have to wait for at least 3 months because we just had our 2nd child on October 13th. However, why do insurance companies go over board with having a breast reduction done and make it so expensive to do. I would really love for her to have it done even though she looks great the way she is but sometimes I think it really brings her self-esteem down a little. Reason being she likes to wear sexy attire but after our first child I would buy her clothes but she always says if I can reduce my breast size then I can wear these. She is really good to watch what she eats and excersises when she can but they don't go down very well. Her mom was had DD size breast and she has so much problem with her back like my wife she finally went in and had it done. What can we do and who should we talk with about this to be able to get it done with the insurance covering it.&nbsp

I Want Plastic Surgery Because...

I can understand exactly how you feel. I am you and you are me. We are in the exact same boat. I have been ashamed of my body for the past 26 years. I don't know what if feels like to have worn a bikini, felt sexy, been unashamed . It creates such a sense of being self conscious that it has stopped me from dating at times due to fear that he might see me naked at some point. It's horrible and I truly can understand. I too would like to feel normal before I die. I have massive stretchmarks, extra skin, sagging breasts...the whole thing. I even have stretch marks behind my knees!! I weigh 105 lbs and people say "oh gain some weight and fill out the skin"....it's not that easy ..for one thing I just don't gain weight and for another ..gaining weight will not fix the problem. I also now have an ugly scar from a hysterectomy which only adds to the disgust.

i think you must be right, we are the same, i also have a scar from being cut from hip bone to hip bone to remove a growth the size of a grapefruit fom my ovary, when they opened me up the growth was gone, they still had to remove my left ovary and tube. gaining weight would not fix the sagging skin or your breast, are people crazy? i

I Want Plastic Surgery Because...

i think you must be right, we are the same, i also have a scar from being cut from hip bone to hip bone to remove a growth the size of a grapefruit fom my ovary, when they opened me up the growth was gone, they still had to remove my left ovary and tube. gaining weight would not fix the sagging skin or your breast, are people crazy? i

i am so sorry you have had to live your life this way too, i hope and pray we both can get surgery and know how it feels to be normal.

Want not Need

I have a problem with the size of my breasts... when i look at myself in the mirror all i see is small boobs... i dont see all the other nicer features i have... i have blond hair, blue eyes, im 5'4'' and about 130lbs... my ass is nice, i have a nice tummy, nice legs but i dont feel that my chest is proportioned with my body.&nbsp

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I have listened to Dr. Phil before when he differentiates between self image and body image and i dont know whether it is my self image or my body image that needs to change. I see the rst of my body as a nice body, why cant i see my breasts the same way.. I dont know whether i would change them if i had money to do so but it is something i have definitely thought about, time and time again...&nbsp

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i dont think i would actually change them if i had the chance, so why am i so uncool with them... and how do i become ok with them if i am not willing to change them?&nbsp

I Want Plastic Surgery Because...

I want a tummy tuck soooo badly. i will have on by next year. I will be 50 next November. Think I am to old to be vain?? I don't have that great of a self image. i think this will help. Already had lyposuction (stupid) and breast lift.

Hello I just wanted to let you know that your never too old! If you want to give yourself a boost and do something to make yourself feel good that is the only thing important. Make sure that you do it for self image though and not self confidence. Remember that no amount of surgery is going to boost self esteem. You have to get that from with in and support from family and friends! Good luck and hope everything goes well!